Hey everyone. Welcome back. Thanks for being here.
Our top story today: the worst parasite outbreak in years is spreading across the country, and the government’s response has been hindered by its own DOGE cuts. The company at the center of it all has given big money to Trump’s political machine in the past and hired a former Trump official to lobby for them in the middle of the outbreak. There’s a lot of confusing information going around on this one, so we’ll walk through what actually happened.
After lettuce-gate, well get into the new 50 percent tariff on Canada, Kash Patel booking a trip to Russia hosted by the heirs to the KGB, the Justice Department going after reporters’ families, and a look at Trump’s pledge to halve your electric bill, which just came due with prices up 18 percent. Just another broken promise from this President.
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Let’s get to it.
1. A Trump Donor Sits at the Center of the Worst Parasite Outbreak in Years
You may have already heard about this, but for context, there’s a parasite called cyclospora going around. It spreads through contaminated food and water, and it causes weeks of misery on the toilet. This year’s outbreak is on track to be the worst on record, with the CDC confirming more than 1,600 cases and investigating over five thousand more. Thankfully, no one has died.
According to a CNN investigation, our ability to respond to this outbreak has been weakened by this administration’s own DOGE cuts. The team at CDC responsible for identifying parasitic outbreaks across the country went from eleven people down to three back in September.
Last week, the FDA said its investigation pointed to shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms. So on Friday, the company recalled its lettuce grown in central Mexico. That recall wasn’t based on a lab test. It was based on the FDA tracing what sick people had eaten back to the lettuce.
Then on Saturday, a shipment of Taylor Farms lettuce got screened at the border and came back positive for the parasite. But on Sunday, Taylor Farms posted that the FDA had called it a false positive, and had apologized to the company. To be honest, their post made it sound like the false positive cleared them of the outbreak entirely.
But by Monday, the FDA was out clarifying. Yes, the test was wrong. But the investigation still points at Taylor Farms lettuce, and the recall stands.
So that’s the timeline on the outbreak. But there’s another layer to this.
Taylor Farms’ parent company gave a million dollars to a pro-Trump super PAC last year. In the middle of this outbreak, they hired a former Trump White House official as a lobbyist. And last Thursday, company executives sat down with White House and FDA officials. But not to help the investigation. In the company’s own words, they were there to talk about “shortfalls” in the FDA’s outbreak response. Two days after that meeting, the one positive test in this entire outbreak got thrown out.
To be fair, there’s no proof that the meeting changed anything. The FDA still says the Taylor Farms lettuce is probably the culprit. And the White House denies any wrongdoing, calling this story fake news, but it’s not like that’s worth much anyway.
Look, maybe there’s nothing here. I can’t rule that out. It’s just a fishy story that I think is worth raising an eyebrow at. But what I do know is that DOGE is responsible for gutting important safety blankets we had on things like this. And with this administration, it’s irresponsible not to question things that seem even a little bit weird. Bribes and corruption are exactly what’s in their nature.
2. Trump Just Hit Canada With a 50 Percent Tariff
Yesterday, the President announced a 50 percent tariff on a lot of Canadian goods, set to take effect in 30 days. Last week he was blaming Canada for wildfire smoke and threatening tariffs over that. But no, his officials are saying these new tariffs have nothing to do with the wildfires.
So what could this move possibly be about? Well, the administration says Canada is treating our cars, alcohol, and cheese unfairly. But Canada was one of only two countries that retaliated against the first round of tariffs last year, the other being China. That’s what this is about. This is Trump retaliating against Canada for retaliating against him. A trade war he started, and a trade war he is now escalating because they responded. The Treasury Secretary is openly admitting it too:
Here’s what everybody needs to remember about a tariff. It is a tax, and you pay it, not Canada. Companies pay it at the border, and they pass it to you at the register. The Supreme Court ruled his last round illegal, so now the government is refunding 81 billion dollars. And guess who gets those checks. Not you. The companies. You paid the higher prices, they get the refund, and the bill for paying it all back lands on the taxpayer. So after all that, the President’s answer is to slap 50 percent on our closest ally and neighbor in the middle of their worst fire season in memory.
Again, the White House is saying this isn’t about the wildfires. But the President just days ago said that we should consider tariffs on Canada because of the wildfires. Are we supposed to not even question that?
3. Kash Patel Is Planning a Trip to Russia Hosted by the FSB
Politico reported yesterday that FBI Director Kash Patel is planning a trip to Russia, likely in mid-October, to Moscow and St. Petersburg. He would be the first sitting FBI director to set foot in Russia since 2013. And his host, according to a U.S. official, would likely be the FSB. That, by the way, is Russia’s security service, the direct successor to the good old Soviet KGB.
The head of our FBI is planning to be hosted by Russian intelligence.
And the timing is something too. Who do U.S. officials think Iran might be getting help from? Possibly China, and possibly Russia. It obviously isn’t confirmed, but the question should be raised.
The last FBI director that visited Russia, Robert Mueller, later ran the investigation into Russia interfering in our elections. And Russia is the one country our intelligence keeps catching doing exactly that, which the President himself declassified last week.
We are deadlocked with them over Ukraine. They’re committing war crimes there and attacking sovereign allied territory. They’ve been caught meddling in our elections. And the Trump administration wants to send our top law enforcement officer to go shake hands with Russian intelligence. Our friends get tariffs and insults and our sworn adversaries get a state visit. And they call themselves the party of America First. What a joke.
4. The Justice Department Subpoenaed Reporters' Families
Court documents revealed yesterday detailed the DOJ’s aggressive tactics in its investigation of the New York Times. Prosecutors subpoenaed the phone records of not only the journalists who wrote the story, but their relatives too. Two spouses were targeted. Even one mother.
Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee to run our national intelligence, was the U.S. Attorney who issued these subpoenas. At his confirmation hearing he told senators his team’s actions were the “least intrusive possible.” But experts in press freedom disagree, calling this “dangerous and uncharted territory.”
This all traces back to reporting on the new Air Force One’s defense capabilities, after the Secret Service made him fly the old plane home from Turkey. Over the weekend, a reporter asked the President why he’s flying a plane with no anti-missile system. Watch his answer:
So the President himself confirmed the plane’s defenses aren’t finished, the same information his administration is subpoenaing reporters’ families to protect. Which tells you this was never really about a secret at all. Doing all of this just because someone embarrassed the President is intimidation, plain and simple.
5. Trump Promised to Halve Your Electric Bill. It's Up 18 Percent.
On the campaign trail, the President made a very specific pledge:
Well, his 18 month deadline passed yesterday. Instead of falling by half, residential electricity prices are up 18 percent since he took office. In just the last year, they rose more than 7 percent, about double the rate of inflation.
This spring alone, utility companies asked for more than 9 billion dollars in higher bills, a 26 percent increase from the same stretch last year. And it’s only going to get worse, because America’s largest grid operator just locked in record costs through 2029.
So why is this happening? For starters, demand for electricity is climbing fast, mostly because of the AI boom. Experts have been warning about this for years, but he made the promise anyway. And his tariffs raised the cost of equipment our power grid relies on. Most of our transformers, which keep power safe for your home, are imported. Our electrical steel comes from South Korea, India, and Japan. His trade war taxed all of it.
Promising to cut people’s bills in half was always fantasy, whether he knew it or not. But this isn’t just a broken promise. His own policies are actively pushing your bill up. And no primetime speech about the 2020 election is going to change that.
Some other stories that caught my eye:
Chief Judge Eric Tostrud, a Trump-appointed district court judge, dismissed all of the Justice Department’s claims against Minnesota’s sanctuary policies on Monday. In a 56-page order he ruled that the administration’s reading of federal law would violate the Tenth Amendment’s anticommandeering doctrine, which bars Washington from forcing states to carry out federal enforcement work. He also found the challenged provisions do not single out the federal government for less favorable treatment. Tostrud wrote that the policies govern the conduct of state and local officers and do not command, forbid, or control how federal agents do their work. DOJ filed the suit last September as one of at least 27 similar cases against more than 20 states, cities and counties in Trump’s first year back. Federal judges have already tossed similar claims against Illinois and Los Angeles.
Senator Darline Graham Nordone told Sean Hannity yesterday that she will run for a full six-year term in the South Carolina Senate seat her late brother held. Governor Henry McMaster appointed her to the vacancy two days after Lindsey Graham died, and she was sworn in on July 14. She had been expected to serve out the remaining months and step aside, until Trump met her in the Oval Office and endorsed her for the August 11 special primary on Truth Social. Her announcement landed one day before the filing window opened. Nordone has never run for office, instead spending her career in state disability services, most recently as the head of South Carolina’s Commission for the Blind since 2019. Multiple South Carolina Republicans were reportedly surprised, because they understood she was a caretaker.
